lordkaho
Creative!
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Chapter 15 The tall blond Magus, his bright, golden hair slicked neatly to the back of his head, squatted down to the floor of the training chamber as he carefully arranged the essential materials for the ritual. Within an ashen circle made of goofer dust, finely pulverized bone meals taken from a freshly dug grave upon the influence of a full moon, the middle aged man one by one placed the following items; a wash cloth used to wrap the first born of Spring that he had 'taken' from the Kingdom's infirmary, a serpent's first shedded skin, some volcanic rock taken from Mt. Shining Star, and lastly, a silver chalice containing blessed water that purportedly is mixed with a drop of blood from a 'divine' being- Though, according to Olaus' research and in-depth study of the Planar Entities, this divine being is said to be a Demon of Light. "Watch closely, Milady. One of the magi's great frontiers, the creation and manipulation of life, second only to seeking knowledge of the infinite, is now but a word a way from completion." "Olaus...You do know, that such emulation is heretical, right?" Olaus tried hard to explain, the rough sides of his face trickled with sweat, suddenly growing nervous with Jeanne's disapproval. "No, no!...Of course not, Milady! I carefully did everything I can so as to not tread in such dire, blasphemous powers. There is nothing wrong with the practice of such arcane magicks, as this is more likely to glorify the might of the divine. It is only those who traffic with the dark-" "Enough, enough...What exactly are you trying to achieve here Inquisitor?" "Like I said...LIFE! But more specifically...A golem. A being made of inanimate objects, breathed life by its creator." Jeanne was aware of the existence of such beings, but most of them were constructs fueled by elemental energies. This one however, felt oddly different from what the norm had used. The entire preparation was a lot more complex, and so was the gathering of the catalysts, the items themselves were very specific in nature. In fact, the whole process was somehow reminiscent of alchemy rather than conjuration magic. "Say. Where did you learn of this...Spell?" Asked Jeanne as she slowly raised a brow as Olaus was making the final preparations. "Oh. About that.. It was the Chief Librarian. A few days ago, he held a lecture about about a religion centered on seeking the truth called Gnosticism." Despite being a person who's perceived as cold and stern, she still possessed some sense of humor, as she herself wasn't safe from almost snickering at Olaus poor 'judge' of character. But soon, she grimaced at the thought of Lawrence teaching the mages such horrible, unspeakable forms of magic. "It is done. Milady. This golem would serve a much better test of your abilities than those weak knights from the academy." "Do NOT think lowly of those men, Olaus. They're my men, and my responsibility..." She pauses, being reminded of her own failures during the past as a Captain "...Whatever their strengths or weaknesses, it greatly reflects on my own capabilities as a leader. " Olaus shook his head in silence, embarrassed yet again, but then proceeds with the ritual. He spread both his arms upon the magic circle, closing his eyes as he entered a state of deep meditation. More drops of sweat trickled down his face as nerves visibly bulged along his forehead as if he was mentally wrestling with some great force. His arms trembled, slowly sinking down, but he tried to keep his stature. "E..M-Mm..Eeth..." He spoke, struggling to utter the word. The two anticipated something like a huge burst of light or an explosion to occur, but there was none. Olaus tried uttering the word again, but once again his attempts were futile. Nothing happened. The catalysts still lay on the floor, untouched. Not even a spark or particles of mana could be seen. Olaus was in great disbelief that his ritual had failed, but Jeanne just stroked her forehead in disappointment. "I could have sworn-!?" Exclaimed the disgruntled magus, but then came a voice elsewhere. "You really shouldn't be listening to aliens, Mr. Wormius!" "Huh?" Like a shadow, she descended from the ceiling, landing upon the floor as quiet as cat. Her purple skirt and raven hair flailed about as she turned around to face the two. A confident smile hung on her face, one that somehow hinted aggression. "H-Heaven Breaker...What a surprise! I am most honored to be in your presence, Highest of the Venator." Olaus quickly knelt before Noir. "Funny friend you have here Jeanne. Did you train him to be like that?" Jeanne quickly lashed a sharp look at her, one that Noir instantly understood. "Olaus, leave us be. I think I have found a much better partner to spar with than some monotonous creature of clay and ash." "As you wish, Milady. I shall further refine my abilities as not disappoint you ever again." And with that, he hurriedly exited the training chamber, leaving only Noir and Jeanne. They stood in a fighting ring, a rotunda at the center with a small elevation of half a meter high from the floor and was 10 meters wide, just enough room for fighters to do battle with each other without worrying of stepping out of bounds. "Well. It has surely been a while, Noir." Smiled Jeanne as she stared at Noir with fierce, competitive eyes. "Hey, you know my name!" Happily said Noir with a cheerful glee. "Vampires are one of the lowest forms in this planet and I would never dare acknowledge their existence by referring to them such as a name. But you...You are much more than that. You are more than 'just' a Vampire, Noir Schwarze." Noir smiled, then asked in puzzlement. "I...Uhh..Where's your weapon?" "This entire room IS my weapon. Step forward and come see, Noir." Said Jeanne as she folded her arms, grinning as she provoked Noir. "You have gotten so much weirder since we last met. I think you have spent too much time with Lawrence." Said Noir as she noticed Jeanne's slight change in attitude. But to her, it was quite refreshing sight to see. "Either way...Let's begin...Jeanne!" She loudly shouted as she prepared to make a swift dash towards Jeanne. But just as she placed her foot upon the first block of stone on the floor, chunks of it came blowing off as powerful whirling buzzsaws attached to copper mechanical arms erupted from the ground and violently slashed and whizzed past her. "W-Whoa?!" She exclaimed as each step she made triggered some of the monstrous saws to burst from the sandstone floor. In a just a matter of seconds, there were now at least several of the mechanical appendages going berserk in the training chamber, lashing out wildly with a metallic roar. Noir evaded their deadly blades, all the while breaking and smashing their fragile copper arms. She swooped down at Jeanne, who since the start has never moved a muscle, and attempted to strike her. She flailed her mighty calves into a crescent leg sweep at Jeanne, but the latter quickly retreats from the blow with a nimble back flip. Moments from landing unto the floor, once again it blew off, sending chunks of earth and stone in all directions, and this time Jeanne lands on yet another machination, one with a round solid platform for her to stand. It was a spire of metal with a rounded flat top, its towering body looked something like a beehive with metallic platings. The massive engine whirred as the cogs and gears churned and turned inside. Soon, the machine spat metal pellets rapidly in the hundreds, all aimed at Noir. She could see in great detail as the small projectiles whisked past at her like steel rain. Without a moment to lose, the vampire swiftly ran sideways along a zigzag path to maximize her dodging chances. The bullets hit and punched through the floor and the ground, causing more debris to come flying at her. "Technology is grand, isn't it?" Said Jeanne. "If...I...Ever...Find..Out..That..You..And...Lorch..Are..Cons..Pi.Ring..Against me...YOU'RE BOTH DEAD!" Yelled Noir as she ran with all her might around the chamber. She tumbled unto some piles of scrap from the buzzsaw machines earlier and grabbed two broken arms still possessing functioning blades. Just as the next hail of bullets fired at her, she hurled with all her might the two spinning pair of saws at Jeanne's platformed machine. The metal projectiles ripped through the violently spinning blades, but nonetheless they smash through it causing a mighty blast, from which the latter had escaped in the nick of time. Jeanne landed on a sea of flaming scraps of metal and coughed as she tried to blow off the cloud of smoke and dust, but Noir was already coming right at her, with her right arm fully extended and clenched into a fist. The punch would have reached Jeanne, but midway, the vampire spots an unnatural glint in the air. To her own surprise, it was trip wire, and a whole throng of it. Unable to stop her body, she suffers many cuts as the wires lightly sliced through her skin. But that was only the beginning of another batch of Jeanne's death traps. Having triggered most of the wires, soon all sorts of various traps had sprang out; from a spinning two nozzled flame thrower, to explosives planted beneath the floor, to barbed silver chains tied to cannon balls. At the end of the tremendous chain of destruction perpetuated by Jeanne, a rather extreme display of Jeanne's over-preparedness- a trait she not used in a long time ever since appointed the rank of Inquisitor Captain, lay the vampire Noir breathing heavily on the ground. She was gasping for air, but not because of over fatigue, but from laughter. She chuckled so heartily that she was already at the point of crying with laughter. Jeanne slowly moved towards her, and gave light, rather sinister, grin. Noir wipes the tears off her eyes and said "Did you really have to rig the entire chamber? What the heck were you thinking??" "Before I was a commander, I worked alone. Not as a Venator like you, but just as a simple soldier. It was this such 'devious' tactic that helped me take down a Death Knight." "Huh? Never knew you, of all people, played dirty." "In a away...Seeing you made me realize how powerless I am- that I depended too much on my soldiers and my sword. I have almost forgotten what's it like to fight using the indomitable power of a logical mind." "What you did right now..Wasn't so logical you know." Chuckled Noir. "Anyway, Noir. Stand up. Let us have another rematch. Using both her legs, she sprang her body up, landing on the soles of her feet. Noir dusted herself off then turned to Jeanne. "You're..Not going to use anymore bombs are you?" Jeanne gave a light chuckle then said "No, no. We fight with THIS." Presenting her clenched fist at the vampire. At first, Noir thought she was joking, as she thoroughly knew Jeanne would not stand a chance against her in a fist fight, but she could see in her piercing blue eyes that she was definitely serious. Jeanne poised herself in awkward boxing stance, somehow showing a sign that she was an amateur when it came to brawling, but Noir could feel that she was more skilled than that. "Here I go. I'll be going all out on you...If that's okay." Jeanne slowly nods. In a blink, Noir's right fist sprang out with powerful shock wave, creating a sonic boom as she flexed her arm. Jeanne absorbed her punch with a double arm block, but she showed visible traces of agony as she tried to restrain the pain from the blow. Again, Noir let off another punch and Jeanne almost instantly blocked it, showing no signs of retaliating. The routine would continue on for three more strikes when just as Noir had pulled back her fist, Jeanne leaned forward attempting to deliver a straight punch. However, when Noir tried to devise a counter attack, Jeanne was actually prepared herself for enough momentum to spin herself into a spinning heel kick. Her boot ripped across the air as it spun into full force, but still missed. Noir was puzzled why she had attempted a much more complex strike when she could have just opted for a punch that had a lesser draw back, however soon Jeanne's kick developed into a wild flurry of kicks. Noir was finding herself in trouble as she could not intercept the motion of Jeanne's attacks. A stance she previously thought to be boxing, was now that of a graceful dancer whose feet were a very unpredictable weapon. In fact, Jeanne seemed as she was dancing with Noir, who she herself seemed to be pulled into doing 'dancing' motions with the how she was trying to evade her attacks, a deadly waltz of melee combat. "HAAAA--!!" Shouted Noir as she drove a punch at Jeanne. The latter once again blocked it, but staggers to a considerable distance from the impact. Noir slammed her foot into the ground with great force, making her imbalanced and fall into the ground. Noir was now sick of toying along. Her eyes blazed as she now went into complete battle mode. She ran up to Jeanne, who was not fast enough to escape her reach, then unleashes a mad series of crunching blows. Jeanne absorbed every single one of it, her bones now giving cracking noises as if her bones were getting fractured from such devastating fury. Normally, she would purposely let herself fall to escape further damage, but there was something that made her persevere with the pain. Her small body was feeling all the damage being thrown into her. Noir herself could see that Jeanne was all accepting of this. It was as if, Jeanne was trusting her to do this. Self guilt? Acceptance? Asking for forgiveness? It was unclear. But just as Noir's crimson eyes burned with zest and passion, Jeanne's crystal cerulean eyes shone with determination and endurance. The two were now locked into a destructive exchange of blows, no longer thinking of evading harm, but rather, sharing the harm and pain the both felt. Punches relayed back and forth as they hit one another in the face, ramming their fists with sheer passion. A relentless battle that didn't seem to end. The force from their punches were enough send small cracks into the ground and blow the dust away from them. But finally, reaching the climax of their heated battle, the two opposing forces locked. "JEANNE D'ARC!" "NOIR SCHWARZE!" They shouted both in unison, as if proclaiming their existence as one sealed by fate. ----------------------------- As the cloud of dust had finally dispersed, the whole lot of the chamber left in great ruin, only the two were left, lying on the battered ground, their bodies just as battered. "I...I have never fought like that in...years." Panted Jeanne. "J-Jeanne..." The blond haired girl turned her weary head to her companion with puzzled eyes. "The reason I wanted to fight you right now was that..." "..I'm leaving the Inquisition." "But that's....Treachery! Why??" Jeanne exclaimed. "No. It doesn't concern you or the Inquisition anymore. I first joined the Order thinking I would get close to her but so far, I have been at a total loss." "So..I think this is my farewell to you, Jeanne." Jeanne showed a hint of sadness, but then forms a smile at the vampire. "No. Knowing you. We'd meet each other again." Noir returned her smile. There was something about those words that gave her comfort and certainty. For once, the Vampire really felt the emptiness in her, that certain gap, filled with purpose. A sense of fulfillment she hadn't achieved for centuries. But as for Jeanne, it was more or less the same, but beneath this fleeting feeling of happiness, there was dark foreboding truth that crept, laying in wait as it prepares to haunt her again. One that Jeanne has been trying suppress all this time... A very long time. ~*~ END OF ACT 1
< Message edited by lordkaho -- 8/4/2012 19:36:29 >
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